To begin the process of normalizing the re-united Diarchy in Equestria's minds, Celestia commissions for new coins to be minted bearing the likeness of her sister, Luna.
A simple enough idea. Unfortunately, the artist that they chose to create the mints was... perhaps not their best choice.
Read it here
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Tropes found in this story include:
- Accidental Pervert: When he first unveils some of his artwork, Celestia and Luna believe that Blank Canvas has deliberately drawn pornography, as his first draft of pictures are meticulously accurate impressions of various parts of Luna's anatomy. The truth is that his condition renders Blank Canvas functionally asexual; anatomy is of interest to him only as it intersects with Art.
- Crippling Overspecialization: As with any sufferer of "mark falling", Blank Canvas is an unparalleled expert in areas relating to his talent, but mentally incapable of processing anything that doesn't fall into that area of concern. If he didn't have a very loving family, he'd be dead of self-induced neglect by now. In the opening paragraphs, it's stated he would probably need at least three attempts to pick out Princess Celestia in a police line-up. Despite the fact she has a one-of-a-kind mane, is one of the minuscule number of Winged Unicorns in Equestria, and she's twice the height of any other pony.
- Ditzy Genius: Blank Canvas is recognized as Equestria's greatest artist, hooves down, no arguments. The problem is that, perhaps in correlation, he has an extreme case of "falling into the mark" and is thus mentally incapable of... well, pretty much anything that isn't directly connected to the creation of art. To put things in perspective, he ultimately creates the never-before-envisioned style of lenticular art... and uses it to create a portrait of Nightmare Moon, the one aspect of Luna's existence that the Diarchy wants Equestria to forget.
- Forgets to Eat: It's a side-effect of his "mark falling"; food just does not register as important to him until his starvation-induced fainting gets in the way of making art.
- Gone Horribly Right: The whole crux of the story is that Celestia and Luna want the best artist in Equestria to create Luna's new currency. And that's exactly who they get. The problem is, "the best artist in Equestria" is mentally ill, suffering the Continuum equivalent of Hollywood Autism. This leads to disaster, as he cannot understand what they want and they, initially, cannot understand how to manage him.
- No Social Skills: All suffers of "falling into the mark" are somewhat oblivious to social mores, but Blank Canvas' is such an extreme case that he's literally incapable of interacting with anyone outside of his family, who understand that he cannot think even remotely the way a normal pony does.
- Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Blank Canvas is a variant; like a true Omnidisciplinary Scientist, he is a master of every single related field and all subordinate subjects. But his focus is on art, and not science.
